BLVD Autoworks

It’s hard to believe now, but at one time the service station was actually seen as a literal safe haven – a place where experts would make sure that autos were running properly and in condition to make their trips without incident. In the 1940s, service station attendants really were the experts. They wore uniforms. In the early ‘50s, there was even a great government debate about self-serve stations; many of them were banned altogether because of the fear of fires, explosions or hazardous breakdowns that would result if drivers were to serve their own vehicles. Okay, those disasters never happened. Today there’s less empty space between towns, and we have cell phones to stay connected. Safety is built into cars now, too. But in Northeast Minneapolis, Columbia Heights, New Brighton and the surrounding Twin Cities area, the service station as a way to keep auto travel safe is alive and well at St. Anthony Mobil. Auto safety can be complex: for every safety feature in today’s au ... read more

There’s a reason St. Anthony Mobil has been a fixture in NE Minneapolis for almost three decades, and it may or may not have anything to do with the great people that we’ve served in Columbia Heights, New Brighton, Roseville, St. Anthony, Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you’ve ever done work on an automobile, you might have learned how easy it is to drop an important part into the engine block and instantly turn a one-hour job into an all-day affair. You might have finished the job and found a number of spare parts left over, forever a mystery. If you haven’t done any work on an auto, you might be one of the many who hear the engine knocking and simply turn up the radio. We’re not being boastful here: one of the great treasures on earth is a great mechanic when you need one. We like to think that St. Anthony Mobil is a safe haven for those who have worked on their cars – to varying degrees of success – and for those who have not. Our mechanics have been here for a long time, and ... read more

In our nearly 30 years of auto service in Northeast Minneapolis and the Twin Cities area, we’ve seen the industry change quite a lot. At one time people got everything they needed in one spot – gas, an oil change, repairs and even a little friendly conversation. Back then people in Minneapolis and St. Paul didn’t rely quite so heavily on their cars. And cars were a lot easier to service; there were no computerized systems yet and the basics most people could do with an average set of tools. Like cars and trucks themselves, auto service quickly diversified. Service stations in Minneapolis and St. Paul had to offer engine and emission diagnostics, auto air conditioning service and repair and a host of other relatively advanced services. Now we have the “auto-mall.” You’ve seen them: a brand tire store, a muffler shop, a tune-up station, maybe a store specializing in transmissions, all in one extended location. Choice is good. But there are some industries where it can be too muc ... read more

Even in Northeast Minneapolis, something mysterious happens when you stay in the same place for a while. Businesses, restaurants and housing developments pop up. The familiar landmarks on Lowry Avenue, St. Anthony Parkway and New Brighton Boulevard are still here, but the neighborhoods grow richer and more developed. If you’re not careful, you can start to feel almost small. In fact, we are not a super-sized convenience store and we are not a part of a larger chain. Instead St. Anthony Mobil specializes in personalized and comprehensive auto service. You will see the same people here each time you visit, because the same people have worked here for at least the last nine years. St. Anthony Mobil has been part of the NE Minneapolis social fabric for almost three decades. That means that we haven’t just watched the neighborhood grow around us. We’ve grown with it. If that means that Northeast is one of the only neighborhoods where you can still stop in for full-service gas, or d ... read more

Actually, there was a time when getting your car serviced in NE Minneapolis wasn’t much of a pain at all. But that was a long time ago, before service stations went self-serve. Most people hardly even noticed at the time it was happening. But along with pumping your own gas, you slowly wound up doing everything else for your car except actually working on under the hood. That’s a pain. There are still a few Minneapolis auto service businesses that can spare you much of the pain of car service, and St. Anthony Mobil is one of them. If you’re scratching your head wondering how much pain you can avoid, let us tell you what it looks like. If your car breaks down, you can simply call St. Anthony Mobil for a range of fast services. We can fix your tires and jump start the battery on the spot – whatever it takes to get you going again. If your car is more broken than that, we can tow it – and get you where you need to go. If you need a vehicle while you’re waiting for your car to be ... read more

When life gets crazy, which nowadays is most of the time, it’s hard to stop and think about what that means: “doctors for your car.” People most think of that as “a place with mechanics.” Even if a Minneapolis area auto service station uses fancy names for its staff – at St. Anthony Mobil, we have auto technicians and master technicians – people still somehow categorize the health of their cars much differently than they do their own. However, from serving NE Minneapolis for the better part of three decades, we’ve come to know that your automobile is a cornerstone of your life just as your health is. Why you bring your car to St. Anthony Mobil is really no different than why you go to the doctor yourself, or why you take a pet to the veterinarian. And it’s no less important. Without your car, you’re nowhere. So our technicians at St. Anthony Mobil have served New Brighton and NE Minneapolis for a minimum of nine years. You get to know us; we get to know you and your car ... read more

There’s a certain magic when you find a place that you just know is right for you. Some people discovered it when they moved to Northeast Minneapolis. Others discover it every day at a coffee shop or a certain department store or even an auto maintenance and repair station. What is it? And why doesn’t every place have it? At St. Anthony Mobil, we don’t know the definitive answer either. But we’ve tried to be different than an auto service or gas station chain. We’re pretty sure that it’s not any one thing that assures you that you belong in a certain store. But as consumers ourselves, here are a few that we’ve noticed. The staff looks happy, even if they’re very busy. People are talking. They talk about their cars and their lives with equal comfort. The staff and the customers seem to know one another… Yet the Minneapolis auto mechanic shop doesn’t seem like an exclusive club that’s difficult to get into. All of this le ... read more

At St. Anthony Mobil, we’re proud of our nearly three decades as a full-service auto station in Northeast Minneapolis. However, though our history is important, it’s not really the point. Many people who are old enough to remember a full-service gas station view it as a symbol of customer service in America. Almost all of these stations have long since given up the idea of an attendant actually coming out to wash your windshield, check your oil and put gas in your car. At the same time, the world really has changed. In NE Minneapolis and everywhere else, drivers value speed and convenience. They believe that attentive service takes too much time. Yet we continue to value qualities like the knowledge of our long-time auto technicians, and the fact that you can get to know them because they’ll be here the next time you stop in. We will pick you up or drop you off while your car is being serviced. Our courtesy car service is free. And yes, if you prefer, we will still come out ... read more